Effective December 2, 2015

General Guidelines

Eligibility: Tuition Assistance Program is available to full-time regular employees of Troy University or the dependent of such an employee meeting eligibility requirements. Retirees that were eligible on their date of retirement and their dependents are also eligible. No part-time, temporary, or adjunct personnel will be eligible for any form of tuition assistance. Employees or dependents funded by Budgeted Restricted Funds (grants, contracts, non-recurring funding) are not eligible for Tuition Assistance unless specifically authorized and budgeted from their funding source. For purposes of this policy, a dependent is anyone eligible for Troy University health insurance. Dependents of an eligible participant who dies are eligible to continue the dependent's Tuition Assistance benefit if they are a senior in high school or have taken the first course under the dependent tuition assistance plan within the 12 months prior to the eligible participant's death. Individuals transitioning from dependent status to employee status will be eligible to continue receiving tuition assistance under the employee status. Dependents who are seniors in high school and are accepted into the Troy Early Admission Program are eligible for the Tuition Assistance Program if their parents meet all the other eligibility requirements. High School students who are dual enrolled or who participate in the Troy Accelerate Program are not eligible for tuition assistance for those courses.

Eligibility Date: Tuition Assistance is effective after one calendar year of continuous full-time regular service. Interim, temporary, and part-time employment does not count toward fulfilling the one-year requirement. An employee must still be employed on the first day of class in order to be eligible for the tuition assistance waiver. Eligibility for dependent status is established on the first day of class; therefore, if an employee's dependent loses dependent status prior to the first day of class, they will not receive the tuition waiver even if previously approved.

Eligible Courses: In-class and online courses as part of a degree program can be taken under tuition assistance. Only semester or term based courses fall under Tuition Assistance; independent studies and course auditing are not covered by this policy. Special and uniquely designed degree programs that have special-priced tuition rates such as Aviation programs and special priced cohort programs are not eligible for Employee/Dependent Tuition Assistance. Tuition assistance can only be used toward one degree at each level (one bachelor's degree, one master's degree, and one doctorate degree where available). If tuition assistance is utilized for any portion of a degree, it will not be granted for any portion of a second degree at the same level. Employees and dependents who have a higher level degree from any college or university are not eligible to pursue a lower level degree or equal level degree using Employee/Dependent Tuition Assistance, except for unique circumstances approved by the Chancellor.

Academic Standing: In order to be eligible for tuition assistance, students must be in good academic standing. Good academic standing for the purposes of Tuition Assistance means that those eligible to receive Tuition Assistance must not be on any type of University “Hold” that would prevent them from being allowed to register for courses. If allowed to register for courses, and all other eligibility requirements are met, Tuition Assistance may be awarded. If the employee or dependent is registered in the semester or term and in a degree program, they are eligible for employee/dependent tuition assistance, unless ineligible for other policy reasons.

Dropped courses/Withdraws: If a student drops or withdraws from courses that received a tuition waiver, it is the student's responsibility to immediately notify Human Resources so the waiver can be removed from the individuals account. If notification is not made until after the drop/add/withdrawal deadline date, the student is responsible for paying all tuition and fees for the courses. Failure to notify Human Resources of post drop/add date withdrawals and failure to pay the associated tuition will result in the employee or dependent being ineligible for further tuition assistance. If courses receiving waived tuition are failed, the tuition will not be waived for those courses a second time.

Professional development/education courses: Courses taken by employees outside of a degree program and for professional development/education must be job related. These course fee waivers are charged to the employees department and therefore must be approved by the supervisor and funds must be available.

Tuition amount waived: The rate of waiver is only up to the established, in-class, in-state tuition rate; all other costs and fees are the responsibility of the student and must be paid by established and published University deadlines. Failure of students to pay their fees and their portion of tuition will result in payment plan and late fees. The surcharge for distance learning (the amount charged over and above regular tuition) must be paid by the employee/dependent. Dependents of employees hired before September 30, 2015 receive a 75% waiver of eligible amounts for courses approved by their academic advisor. Dependents of employees hired on October 1, 2015 or later receive a 50% waiver of eligible amounts for courses approved by their academic advisor. After spring semester/T-4 Term 2020, all dependents of employees receive a 50% waiver of eligible amounts for courses approved by their academic advisor. Employees receive 100% waiver of eligible amounts for up to nine semester hours per academic year (usually one course each fall, spring, and summer semesters; supervisors can approve 2 courses in one semester or term if only one course is during business hours and the maximum number of hours are not exceeded for the academic year). For courses with an associated lab, the four credit hour course will be covered and calculated as a three hour course.

Cap of Hours: Tuition waivers will be capped at 120 hours for undergraduate programs and 36 hours for graduate programs.

Use of Waiver when other aid is received: Use of Waiver when other aid is received: If full, or partial, tuition is provided by any institutional/university source, then that source must be applied to tuition first, with tuition assistance being applied to the remaining balance. For example: If a full tuition payment is made by a Troy scholarship, tuition assistance would not apply. If you receive tuition assistance or reimbursements from other sources, such as federal loans, grants, G. I. Bills, or PACT payments - those sources will be applied to tuition after the tuition assistance is applied. Should the eligible participant's full tuition cease to be covered by another source for any reason while the participant is still eligible for Tuition Assistance, Tuition Assistance may be utilized at such time.

Note: Employees must receive supervisor's approval to take courses during the business day and in such cases, extended work days should be arranged to ensure hours spent commuting and in class are worked at an alternate time.

Under current tax laws (subject to change), employee and retiree undergraduate and up to $5,250 worth of graduate tuition assistance and dependent undergraduate tuition assistance are not considered taxable. Dependent graduate tuition assistance is considered 100% taxable income for the sponsoring employee or retiree and will be reported on the employee's IRS Form W-2 or on IRS Form 1099 for retirees. Payroll withholding taxes will be deducted from the employee’s pay on the next pay period following the Semester/Term Census date (day after the final day to drop/add/withdraw without financial penalty).

Applications for Tuition Assistance must route through the immediate supervisor. The form can be obtained using the links below and must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources after registration each academic term but prior to the 1st day of class. Eligibility requirements must be met for each term and must be established prior to the first day of class. Forms received after the first day of class will not be processed for tuition assistance unless approved by the applicable senior vice chancellor or athletics director due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control.